$180 Goes to the Guy in the Blue Taurus.

Today I spent three hours of my life pushing my luck, traveling anywhere from 10-15 miles over the speed limit as I sped home from my parents' house. I had a nightmare last night that I was late to teach my own class, and the fear of professional failure was fresh in my mind.

I was rolling into St. Peter, entering the last leg of the race, when a Blue Taurus heading the opposite direction appeared to be experiencing a technical malfunction-- at least that was my initial interpretation of the on/off flashing of the headlights. After this spastic light display continued for several seconds, I began to dig deeper and look for another explanation.

I had heard that sometimes good samaritans flicker their headlights to signal that a radar-armed cop is waiting somewhere in the immediate future, but I had never actually experienced anything to substantiate this urban legend. Despite this, I decided to play it safe and drop my speed from 70 miles an hour to 55.

10 seconds later I was coming around the bend that snakes into St Peter from the north and sitting on the median was a white squad car, facing my direction, loaded down with state-of-the-art radar and not one but TWO eager police officers. I guarantee I would have been the reason one of them would have knocked his coffee over as he grabbed the stick shift to jam it into gear.

I owe that man a cut from the $180 I would have lost over a ticket, and I owe it to society to start flashing my headlights whenever I see a cop.


Note: Any sexual innuendos in the last two paragraphs were entirely intentional.